Halloween 2011 NHL Rumor Roundup

SLAM! HOCKEY: Bruce Garrioch reports the opinion around the league is Kyle Turris and his agent Kurt Overhardt have misplayed their situation by staging a holdout and making a trade request, while no one is blaming Coyotes GM Don Maloney for maintaining his “no-trade” stance. Overhardt apparently remains hopeful Turris will get an offer sheet in the $4 million range or a trade from Maloney but the chances of those happening appear slim to none…Garrioch also suggests Montreal Canadiens GM Pierre Gauthier could be next out the door, and listed former GM Bob Gainey or Lightning assistant GM Julien Brisebois as two names to watch as possible replacements…Boston Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli wouldn’t mind adding scoring help at forward but “doesn’t have a whole lot of cash to play with at the moment”…The Blue Jackets are fielding calls for Derick Brassard and Kris Russell…Tampa Bay GM Steve Yzerman tried to acquired LA Kings goalie Jonathan Bernier during the June entry draft, and there’s talk the Kings might try to move him at some point. Yzerman has concerns over the performance of aging starter Dwayne Roloson and could look at bolstering his goaltending before the trade deadline…Flames GM Jay Feaster is working the phones, but he’s offering players (Matt Stajan, Niklas Hagman, David Moss) other teams have little interest in. Rene Bourque is an attractive trade chip, though he does have a lot of money remaining on his contract…The LA Kings are looking to move winger Dustin Penner, who has one year and $4.25 million remaining on his contract.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: I don’t believe Turris will be dealt, but that won’t put the trade rumors to rest…The Canadiens have won three straight games since Gauthier fired assistant coach Perry Pearn. If they have a better performance in November, Gauthier won’t be going anywhere…Chiarelli has over $3.1 million in available cap space, n0t counting the LTIR relief they get from Marc Savard’s $4 million salary. He’s got the cap space to work with if he wants to add salary…If the Blue Jackets make changes I suspect it’ll be in the front office and/or behind the bench…The Kings have little reason to move Bernier at this time, and it wouldn’t surprise me if they hang onto him this season to spell off starter Jonathan Quick, ensuring Quick isn’t burned out by playoff time…I could see Moss having some value for other clubs but not as much as Bourque. The Flames are stuck with Stajan and Hagman this season…Penner might have more value nearer the trade deadline.

OTTAWA CITIZEN: Ken Warren believes the “bizarre moves” by Kyle Turris in his contract standoff with the Phoenix Coyotes adversely affect his trade value, suggesting he’s losing value for every day he doesn’t play.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: Agreed. The Turris camp is trying to force a trade, but it seems to me they have no leverage.

CALGARY HERALD: George Johnson reports Flames winger Rene Bourque acknowledged he’s heard his name mentioned in trade rumors but professed not to be troubled by it. Johnson noted Bourque, who is pushing 30, cannot be considered a developing young talent anymore, and wondered how long the Flame management will wait for him to become a more consistent scorer.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: I don’t see the Flames dealing Bourque unless they can get good value in return. They’ll want a top six forward in return, not draft picks or prospects

THE BUFFALO NEWS: Bucky Gleason reported several teams have been scouting the Edmonton Oilers, suggesting center Sam Gagner might be moved by the trade deadline, naming St. Louis as a possible destination.

SPECTOR’S NOTE: With Ryan Nugent-Hopkins joining the Oilers full time and playing well on a line with Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle, it’s possible Gagner might become trade bait later in the season. Then again, given Shawn Horcoff’s injury history, it might be worthwhile to hang onto Gagner. The Oilers currently aren’t in any rush to make a move thanks to their surprisingly strong start.

29 Comments

DurtMCHurt
on October 31, 2011 at 1:41 pm

Why don’t the Flames want prospects and picks? Seems to me they should start rebuilding.

northby9
on October 31, 2011 at 1:52 pm

It wouldn’t be surprising to me if Brassard was on the move. As someone foolish enough to pick him in my pool this year (sigh) I know that 5 games ago, he was playing on the 4th line and got under 10 minutes a game. Then, when Carter got injured, they moved him to the top line and he got a couple of points. Last night? Back down to 6 minutes played, even with Carter still out. That looks to me like someone who has worn out their welcome…

monashee maniac
on October 31, 2011 at 2:27 pm

Durt

Money. If the Flames go into full rebuild mode then the fans will stop going, just like they stopped going when the Flames were consistantly missing the playoffs at the beginning of the last decade. A full rebuild will take 4-5 years with most of those years playing in the basement. Flames fans, or any hockey fans, will not support a team that is consistantly losing.

DurtMCHurt
on October 31, 2011 at 3:13 pm

monashee maniac, dude, did you just call me money? Lol!
Anyway, did the fans stop supporting the Oil? I think if a GM makes it clear to his fanbase on what direction he is taking, then most people will understand. Sure you lose a few casual fans, but I doubt the franchise would go belly up if they chose to rebuild.

losalvz
on October 31, 2011 at 3:21 pm

@monashee maniac, that isnt necessarily true, rebuilts dont take 4-5 years with a good cast of scouts and a very hockey smart gm, look at the flyers as the prime example of that. They were the worst team in the league finishing 30th 4-5 years ago, then they came back and made the playoffs the next year. I think if flames management brings forth a plausible plan to transition into and out of a rebuild then many fans go along with that just like Edmonton did. I know i would.

If the flames go the rebuild route they will have to finish last or close to it. That way they would be guaranteed a top prospect. The flames record of drafting future flames is unbelievably bad even when drafting in the top 10. I think if the fan base is given the heads up on what their plans are they will be supportive for the most part. They will lose some support but they will come back in droves if they see a dramatic turn around. It should start with the trades of Iginla, Bouwmeester, Kiprusoff, Jokinen, and a few others. The trend seems to be to get younger in the NHL and for the most part is having success. The GM just has to have fortitude to do this and have the support of ownership.

2inches.. from the ground
on October 31, 2011 at 4:36 pm

Gagner or Bressard would be a good fit in Jersey…

dano
on October 31, 2011 at 7:01 pm

The rebuild has not even put a dent in the Oiler fanbase. I went the the Oiler/Blues game last night. What an atmosphere! People know what is in the making, a couple years in the basement doesnt always hurt a team. Look at the Pens. Oh and why are people so quick to rag on the Oilers. Do people forget Pitts has Fleury and Crosby both 1st overall and Malkin at 2nd. But yet no one rags on them for YEARS of losing.

Miokid
on October 31, 2011 at 7:37 pm

@Durt.

At this point of time, no Canadian team could go belly up; look at how bad the Leafs/Oilers have been the the past 4-5 years, and they were still selling out. But I don’t think that Flames are quite at that rebuild point yet; and Feaster has made it clear he’ll be doing rebuilding while still putting decent teams on the ice (something I enjoy). I really don’t feel like being a bottom dwelling team 4 out of five years like the Oil had to do. Additionally with this current collective deal, like what we saw from Chicago, it’s pointless now-a-days to stock pile young stars… because once that first contract finishes, you’re losing a huge portion of your team.

Additionally it doesn’t take a first overall pick to be a winner, in the past twenty years a first overall pick has only led his team to cup 3/20 times (I’ll count MAF, even though, I shouldn’t). The teams that generally do the best are the ones that can make the best out of their draft positions. Flames have had two decades of poor drafting; however the past couple years have been pretty different and actually pretty decent.

Next year a ton of money comes off the books for the Flames, if they were smart they’d let some kids up and spend the money *very* wisely. There’s no need to push yourself to the cap if there’s no need to be; additionally, any team willing to take Matt Stajan’s contract would be crazy hehe. Even bottom dwellers that have to claw to get over the floor wouldn’t take that monster contract.

And for the Oil people, the bandwagon’s filled again; it was funny how many people are jumping back onto the Oiler wagon after jumping off the past few years =o).

northby9
on October 31, 2011 at 9:36 pm

My personal opinion on one more reason why the Flames won’t rebuild right now? As a business, they can’t. Iginla is getting too old to have a team re-build around him, so if they went the rebuilding route, they’d be obliged to trade Iggy if he asked for it (which, behind closed doors, he might well do, if they were going to be cellar-dwellers for 2-3 years).

However, Iginla is a market department’s wet dream. A star who combines physical play with skill, good with fans an in front of the camera, handsome, a minority player in a sport dominated by whites… Iginla just being himself is worth millions to the Flames as an asset. The Flames as a *business* can’t afford to give him up.

So, if they can’t give up Iginla – and the revenues he earns – for another couple of years, there won’t be rebuilding in that time.

Just my thoughts!

northby9
on October 31, 2011 at 9:38 pm

please ignore my multiple typos; my opinion still stands! 🙂

monashee maniac
on October 31, 2011 at 9:42 pm

Durt, the answer was money. You? I’ll call spare change (jk).

The Oilers made the finals in 05. When they went into full rebuild mode they were only a couple of years removed from that. The Oilers have a great record of drafting talent. Also, for the last 2 years there was a ton of hype about their young talent. In the time between cup-run and now, the Oilers maybe had only 3 years where it was really tough.
The Flames have a terrible draft record, they have no up and coming talent on the farm, they can’t seem to develop anyone and they have already missed the playoffs 2 years in a row.
If the Flames go into a full rebuild then they will lose the bandwagon fans, (and believe me, there are a lot of them in Calgary. In 2002 you couldn’t give away Flames tix) and they will alienate the core fans who will be screaming at their TVs “WHY IN THE HELL DIDN’T YOU DO THIS THREE YEARS AGO!!!!!”

miokid
on October 31, 2011 at 9:58 pm

@Monashee

From 1997-2007, Take off Hemsky and Horcoff… Who did the Oilers draft? Oil are just as bad as the Flames on draft day; only the last four years they’ve done a decent job: and that’s additionally because they have 2 #1s there =o).

As for the Flames farm, might want to check out the WHL and see two of our boys in the top 20 scorers (Sven would be there, apart from only playing 8 games this season… and still being #26). Horak playing with the big boys this year is starting to show his skill. Don’t get me wrong, Flames don’t have a great farm, but there are some bright kids there that will be playing in the big show soon enough.

And wait a minute. After the cup run they’ve only had 3 years that was bad?
2006–07 5th, Northwest Did not qualify
2007–08 4th, Northwest Did not qualify
2008–09 4th, Northwest Did not qualify
2009–10 5th, Northwest Did not qualify
2010–11 5th, Northwest Did not qualify

Eeek.

BigBoss
on October 31, 2011 at 10:09 pm

Flames do need to rebuild for sure. There is a certain market for Iggy and Kipper and they could honestly get a ton for them both. They’re stuck with Bouwmeester as he is over-paid and under-achieves, but they should just draft a solid core of young talent. They seem to have some good talent in the past 2 years but beyond that it’s so poor. This is all just a reflection of years of poor management at the hands of the Sutter family.

Habsfan1
on October 31, 2011 at 10:34 pm

Gauthier is not going anywhere this year. The way he dealt quickly and efficiently with the injuries last year and to start this year have all been solid. Firing Pearn and being reward with three straight wins shows him to be a prudent manager who is not affraid to make the tough calls and ussually gets them right. The jury is still out on the Markov signing as he might be back relatively soon and we will see. The Halak deal looks better with every game Eller and Price play and Halak struggles. Is he perfect, no. Could he have made better calls in hindsight? Yes. Has he botched it so much that he needs to go? No, not by a long shot. only in Montreal would any body be calling for Gauthier head at this point.

Joey
on October 31, 2011 at 10:58 pm

Turris in my opinion has been given bad advice by his agent; and unless Turris changes his attitude between now and Dec 01, he’s will lose a full season and at his age and this stage of his career, it could seriously affect his value to any other team out there next year as they might now see him as a problem child

Chris
on October 31, 2011 at 11:00 pm

I believe Edmoton is now ready to move to Atlanta. We can then put Phoinex in Edmonton. Just thinking out loud.

DurtMCHurt
on November 1, 2011 at 1:08 am

miokid, agree with your rebuttle on the Oil’s draft record…good call. But you can’t say it’s pointless to stockpile young stars like Chicago did, they won a cup…that’s far from pointless lol!

monashee maniac, hahahaha! I didn’t realize you where answering me, I thought you were using street slang on me. I still disagree though, I really think there is a large portion of Flames fans who really want to blow the team up. IF they do, speed bumps aside, I really think the franchise will be fine.

northby9, They can still rebuild and keep Iggy. The Sens are doing it with Alfie and Spezza.

Trading Kipper and Jbo should net a decent return. Let the bad contracts expire and stockpile draft picks/prospects. Keeping the team competitive for now is just prolonging the process. As several people noted, the Flames have a horrible draft record, so why is it a good idea to keep drafting in the mid first?
I would say the Flames only have about 3 decent prospects in the minors/farm. Time to stockpile yesterday.

meowIMaCAT
on November 1, 2011 at 5:54 am

I think this is hilarious. ALLL the Flame fans come to bash the Oilers because they are doing well, do they realize that most of the good teams in the NHL are good because they have sucked and gotten 1st-4th overall picks? Pits (cup) Chi(cup) Wash(top of the conference) TampaBay( Eastern Finals) its time for a rebuild there. Horak isnt your new Iggy. meowwwww.

Cowtown75
on November 1, 2011 at 8:28 am

Durt- The Flames fans will not put up with a COMPLETE re-build. Believe me. Feaster is going to do this piece by piece, younger as we go, believe me again. Missing the last two years in the playoffs has been hard enough on the fans and everyone in Calgary feels it. Since coming to Calgary from Atlanta, Calgary has a winning tradition with alot of future and present Hall of famers. I understand you are a Leafs fan, which is fine, but I don’t think there is as much pressure in T.O. to ice a winning team and it has been that way for MANY years there because the rink there gets sold out all the time and money is made there always whether they win or loose. Since coming to Calgary in 1980, Calgary has accomplished alot. (Tonnes more than Toronto-not even the same league) – Two presidents trophies, many conference winning years, a stanley cup, (should of been two- 2004), and a legacy left by many great players who have been through this organization. It would be silly for me as a Flames fan relating to you as a Leafs fan to put the enphasis on winning and how important it is to our city as it doesn’t matter how bad Toronto does, they have the sold out arenas and the owners making money. There are high expectations here and a winning tradition. The Oilers did a re-build, another awesome Alberta team (great dynasty) but it’s because they just sucked and things went that way after their run in 05, it wasn’t something they “planned to do”. Since then, they have sucked- it’s 2011 now, soon to be 2012 and they finished in the basement last year again. Don’t believe the hype that the Oilers fans have been “cool” with this over this time span. They were not. Lots are OK now, for obvious reasons and can see alot of number one picks and HIGH draft picks in the fold and are fantasizing about the immediate future- but still, this doesn’t mean anything- they may not do anything and by the time they are ready to, the young guys may be too expensive for them to hold on too. Calgary had to have a “save the Flames” campaigne in the mid 90’s while we tried a re-build and we missed the playoffs for a few years. That’s gotta tell you how serious things are here. I know this is hard for a Leafs fan to digest as your team hasn’t had any success since you got Gilmour from us in 90 and had an ok run- but here…we expect and want to win- and alot of businessmen and owners want to see it too- and if it’s not, it won’t last for too long. So please don’t make suggestions for re-builds or what not for a team that is much more successful than yours since their conception into the NHL and you don’t understand what it feels like to win- cause here in Calgary, we have felt it ALOT, and we like that feeling.

DurtMCHurt
on November 1, 2011 at 12:34 pm

Cowtown75, hahaha! Ya your right. Zero pressure to win here. We relish in losing. Every fan that calls into radio stations here have been really happy about missing the playoffs for the last 6 years. And Burke, completely uncompetitive. Ron Wilson sneers when we win, and the entire TML staff celebrates when we get blown out. Lol! Are you serious? You odviously don’t live in Toronto so you have no idea what the vibe has been like for the last decade.
I never once insulted the Flames. I offered my opinion on what I think they should do. Thanks for turning it around and using your teams plight to rip on my team, very bush league of you. If your happy with a middling team for the next decade, then more power to you. I think it’s a mistake, and can only be done successfully with a handfull of GM’s. The more proven way to do things is a rebuild.

JJB
on November 1, 2011 at 2:56 pm

The Flames need to build close to the same way that the Senators are, as much as people hate them and are calling this season ‘luck’ (which it could be) their drafting, trading, and building process has been quite strong. The Flames do not need to trade Iggy, they want to keep a player like Iggy a career player who identifies with his team and fan base. The Sens have managed a full scale build, having a bad season last year but what is a fun and competitive team this year.

They have drafted decently high, have great players/mentors in Alfie, Spezza, Phillips, Neal, Michalek, and Anderson who are all fairly up their in years. Yet they still have great prospects and young guys in their system, DaCosta, Lehner, Zibs, Rundblad, Cowan, Karlsson . I think this is the look the Flames are going for. Hold onto the core players that have been identified and try to make some moves and ice a competitive team that will get better over time.

I honestly think that they days of a full blown rebuild are over, a hot goalie, a hot player, the right fit that year, a lot of things seem to carry a team pretty far. Take the ‘Yotes for example, I don’t think you can really attribute their last couple years of success to anything but coaching and goaltending. Heck a bad team but a strong coach can pull you far. Not saying the Pens are bad but minus Gonchar, Crosby, Malkin last year who have for the previous years been their top players Danny B brings them to the playoffs.

My opinion for Flames, patience, smart trades, get a new coach who works well with developing players and learning to play a defensive system (I don’t feel they have that) and get some new scouts cause the Flames drafting does sucks … a lot.

monashee maniac
on November 1, 2011 at 4:33 pm

I just took a look at the Oilers roster on TSN’s website. They have 13 players they drafted.
Paajarvi, Ladner, Omark, Peckham, Gagner, Petry, Hemsky, Horcoff, Hall, Eberle, Smyth, RNH, Dubnyk.
Only 2 of those were lottery picks. If you are going to tell me that having over half of your roster coming from within your organization is a terrible draft record then you are crazy.
The Flames? 3. Moss, Giordano and Backlund.
Who’s got a better draft record again?

monashee maniac
on November 1, 2011 at 4:55 pm

miokid
When the Flames prospects start playing in the NHL then I’ll belive that they are good enough. Every year I listen to the Calgary radio folks tell me how good their draft picks are playing in junior but, other than Backlund, none of them seem to make it to the bigs. Why?
IMO, the Flames need a full organizational shift. They need to stop trying to sign the top free agent and they need to stop giving up their draft picks for cast-offs from other teams.
The Flames need to focus on developing their players. Get a good core group of players and supplement that with FA signings or trades. Take a look at the most successful teams in the past few years. Pittsburg, Washington, Vancouver, Chicago, Detoit, Boston and now Edmonton. Built from within.

monashee maniac
on November 1, 2011 at 5:03 pm

Also, once you have built a competative core group you are going to have a better chance of signing the top FAs. You will probably get them for less than market value, or at least you won’t have to overpay, because there is a Stanley Cup in the forseeable future.

monashee maniac
on November 1, 2011 at 5:05 pm

Another thing, you’re core group is more likely to give you a home town discount if they have come up through your organization.

monashee maniac
on November 1, 2011 at 5:21 pm

Durt, don’t worry about Cowtown, he is one of the bandwagon fans I was referring to in my first post. You know those guys, they can tell you all of the Hall of Famers on the 1989 team but won’t mention that they have only made it out of the first round once since then. They would have had two cups if only Bettman wasn’t out to get them. They have all of these current Hall of Famers on this team, like Iginla and… uhh…Kipper(?) They will deny the fact that attendance was consistantly declining from ’99 to ’02 and if not for the cup run and the $CDN the team would likely have moved. They think that the ’03 cup run was because of something other than Iginla and Kiprusoff.
It was all Betman’s fault!
And Toronto Sucks!

farleybear
on November 1, 2011 at 5:34 pm

I’m blaming Maloney. I can see the merit of what he’s doing, I just don’t agree with it. He hurt his team with how he’s handling it.

Turris doesn’t want to be in Phoenix, so trade him. Sure, Turris made a mistake by asking for a trade, and that request, SOMEHOW (Maloney), went public. What’s Turris to do now? Accept the deal that’s on the table and play in PHX to a season long chorus of boo’s from the fans….all 200 of them? Sit in a locker room where he’ll undoubtedly be persona non grata?

By going public with his demands hurt his market value. They should have all kept their mouth shut and Maloney should have shipped off Turris and his demands to another team and let his new GM deal with that headache. They would have gotten a decent prospect and/or player in return. Now all Maloney is gonna get at this point is a problem for problem trade. No one is going to want to give up anything of value for a perceived cry-baby.

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